KARACHI, June 8: Kashif Awan spared Karachi United’s blushes with a late second half equaliser in his side’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Aga Khan Gymkhana in the KASB Premier League on Sunday.
After pinning Aga Khan Gymkhana down in their own half for opening five minutes, hosts Karachi United were shocked when they went 1-0 down after an opportunist strike by Sohail Pervaiz in the 8th minute.
Sohail caught the defenders napping and made no mistake when he received a measured long pass from Habib-ur-Rahman, his right-foot shot bending viciously which gave United goalkeeper Azhar Zuberi no chance.
United had their first real goal scoring opportunity when their skipper from Oman Qais Abdullah’s feeble try from near the line was well taken by Aga Khan Gymkhana goalkeeper Shoaib Mohammad.
While both sides kept analysing each other’s strength in the first half, they came back after the lemons with all their guns blazing throughout the second period at Aga Khan Gymkhana ground.
United were the first to push their rivals into their own half, but were left ruing missed chances. Their burly striker Kashif was the villain who wasted at least two gilt-edged opportunities early in the second half.
Kashif, the player of the match, first missed the opportunity when fed by Imran Ali from the right and again squandered an inch-perfect Taha Alizai cross, slamming the ball high and wide off the target.
Soon after back-to-back missed sitters, Kashif compensated when he was fed by Yasser Saeed, another Omani living in Pakistan, side-footing the ball home following a goalmouth melee in the 52nd minute.
The see-saw game continued as Aga Khan Gymkhana took barely 60 seconds to gave United another fright when Habib netted after some hard work by Wazir Ali.
As the game was in its closing moments, United mounted pressure in search of an equaliser which they finally got thanks to three-touch movement a minute before the end.
Imran started the manoeuvre, Nadir Daudi passed the ball to Kashif who became hero giving the move a final touch with keeper Shoaib beaten.
In another game at CDGK, the player of the match Anwar Zaib’s 52nd minute winner gave Pakistan Petroleum 1-0 win over Mekran Sports.
Hyderi Baloch maintained their position at the top of the table after the second round matches followed by Baloch Mohammadan and Karachi United.
Points table after second round (teams, played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Hyderi Baloch 2 2 0 0 9 1 6
Baloch Mohammadan 2 1 1 0 2 1 4
Karachi United 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
LLWC 2 1 0 1 4 2 3
Mekran Sports 2 1 0 1 1 1 3
Pakistan Petroleum 2 1 0 1 1 1 3
Usmanabad Union 2 1 0 1 1 3 3
Nawab XI 2 0 1 1 0 1 1
Aga Khan Gymkhana 2 0 1 1 2 4 1
Bhutta Mohammadan 2 0 0 2 1 8 0